-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Earlier this year , Sen. Chuck Schumer , D-New York , and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , D-California , expressed support for raising taxes only on households earning $ 1 million or more , a higher threshold than the $ 250,000 dividing line backed by President Obama .

Eventually , Schumer and Pelosi declared their support for the president 's position . But the $ 1 million proposal might serve as the basis for a bipartisan agreement .

A number of Republicans , led by Sen. Bob Corker , R-Tennessee , have called for raising tax revenue by capping deductions at $ 50,000 , a proposal that would leave virtually all middle-income households untouched while substantially raising average tax rates on households in the top 2 % of the income distribution .

A deduction cap is expected to raise roughly $ 800 billion in revenue above current policy , which is only half of the $ 1.6 trillion the Obama administration hopes to raise from high-earners . It is , however , an amount that many congressional Republicans appear to have deemed acceptable .

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One of the central problems with a deduction cap , however , is that it is likely to be opposed by politically influential charitable organizations , which recognize that it will greatly undermine the incentive for high earners to make large charitable donations . Moreover , President Obama has insisted that tax rates on high earners will have to increase , though he has not made an explicit commitment to the Clinton-era statutory top rate of 39.6 % -LRB- which compares to today 's top rate of 35 % -RRB- .

So , is there a way out of this impasse ? Rep. Mike Simpson , R-Idaho , along with Reps. Tom Cole , R-Oklahoma , Bob Dold , R-Illinois , and Mary Bono Mack , R-California , have called on congressional Republicans to back legislation that would extend all the Bush-era tax cuts except for the high-income rate reductions , which would be allowed to expire . This remains a minority view among congressional Republicans , but it may well gain support in light of the popularity of allowing the high-income rate reductions to expire .

Another possibility is that congressional Republicans will embrace the Schumer-Pelosi proposal . That is , rather than embrace expiration for the high-income rate reductions for households earning $ 250,000 or more , they would accept it for households earning $ 1 million or more .

This would shield a large , politically influential constituency of affluent households , a disproportionately large share of whom live in high-cost metropolitan areas in blue states , while allowing Democrats and Republicans to take a politically popular stand .

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To raise somewhat more revenue , this threshold could be set at $ 500,000 or $ 410,000 , the latter of which would more precisely target the top 1 % of households by annual income . Rather than set the tax rate for this new top bracket at 39.6 % , Congress could set a rate of 36 % or 37 % , a face-saving gesture that would contribute to an appearance of moderation .

Back in 2007 , Alan Viard , a tax economist at the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute , offered a detailed explanation of why increasing taxes on high-income households alone is unlikely to raise enough revenue to reach ambitious deficit reduction goals . At the time , he estimated that raising $ 1 trillion in additional revenue relative to the Bush-era tax code from households earning $ 1 million or more -LRB- $ 500,000 for singles -RRB- would require raising the tax rate from 35 % to 57 % .

If the goal of a millionaire 's tax bracket is not to raise revenue in the most efficient manner but rather to make a political point , as seems at least somewhat plausible , it is easy to imagine it as the basis of a political compromise .

The Obama administration is eager to secure more fiscal stimulus for the coming year in light of sluggish global economic growth . So a tax compromise that raises relatively little revenue is arguably desirable , at least in the short term , as it would help forestall an economic contraction .

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If some small number of Republican senators from swing states are willing to cross the aisle to back a millionaire 's tax bracket , President Obama will be able to claim he has a bipartisan consensus in favor of his broad approach to resolving the fiscal cliff . This in turn will make it very difficult for House Republicans to resist .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Reihan Salam .

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Earlier this year Sen. Schumer , Rep. Pelosi proposed raising taxes on millionaires

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Reihan Salam says their idea of a higher threshold than Obama 's $ 250,000 could work

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Salam : It would n't raise as much money , but would be more politically palatable

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He says another plus is that it would n't risk as much of an economic slowdown